


Breathe in and out all day long.

by LouiseC



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 30dayfic, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, M/M, tumblr:30dayfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-07 16:34:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3177184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouiseC/pseuds/LouiseC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grace Williams is worried about her father. She knows he doesn't sleep at night. But she also knows what will make him happy again so on Christmas Eve, she calls a radio station to ask for help finding her Danno a new wife.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's not that late in Hawaii

_“Our next caller lives in Honolulu. Go ahead, Grace. You’re on the air with Dr. Caroline Bradman.”_

“Hi.”

_“Hello, Grace. You sound a lot younger than our usual callers. How old are you?”_

“I’m almost nine.”

_“And, Grace, what are you doing up so late on Christmas Eve?”_

“It’s not that late in Hawaii,” Grace reminds the doctor. And really, shouldn’t someone who went to medicine school know better?

_“Your’re right. Of course!,” she laughs. “So, what’s your wish this Christmas?”_

“It’s not for me. It’s for my dad. I think he needs a new wife.”

_“Oh? You don’t like the one that he has?”_

“That’s just the problem. He doesn’t have a wife. My mommy died.”

_“I’m very sorry to hear that, Grace. But what makes you think your Dad needs a wife now?”_

“Because he’s lonely. I hear him up at night, walking around the house. The stairs creak. Loud.”

_“He’s having trouble sleeping?”_

Grace nods before remembering that she’s on the phone.“Yeah. And that makes me worried because he’s a detective and what if he falls asleep while he’s chasing a bad guy down the street?”

_“I’m sure your father would not be so tired that he can’t work safely but I can hear in your voice that you’re very worried about him. Is he there? I’d like to speak with him if that’s alright.”_

“Yup, he’s out the back looking at the water. I’ll get him.” There’s a thump and some muffled rustling as Grace runs to the back door of the house and onto the lanai. “Danno,” she shouts. “Someone’s on the phone. It’s for you.”

Danny, startled from his thoughts turns towards his daughter’s voice and starts to walk back across the grass.

“Ok, he’s coming. Now, his name is Danny and he might be a little mad sounding and talk a lot but don’t worry, that’s just how he thinks thinks things through.” Grace hand the phone to her father.

“Hello?” Danny looks suspiciously at Grace as she darts halfway up the stairs to watch him through the banisters.

_“Hello, Danny. My name is Dr. Caroline Bradman and you’re on the air.”_

“I’m on the what now?”

_“The air. Live on national radio. Your daughter called me because she’s worried that you’re awake at night and that you’re very unhappy.”_

“Oh she is, is she.” Danny scowls. “Get out here you.” Grace slinks over and sits on the other end of the couch, legs tucked up underneath her.

_“Grace is hoping that if you talk to me, maybe you’ll be able to become a little better. It’s her Christmas wish.”_

“Her Christmas… Really?” he turns to Grace. “You’re playing the Christmas card on me?”

Grace shrugs. “Whatever works, Danno.”

“Okay,” Danny sighs. “Fine.”

_“Great. Just a few questions then. How long ago did your wife die?”_

“About a year and a half ago.”

_“And have you dated anyone since then?”_

“No.”

_“Can you tell me why?”_

“Why? Let me tell you why,” Danny sighs. “Have you tried keeping up with a seven year old girl on your own? No, I haven’t dated anyone because…”

_“Because?”_

“Because I just… I haven’t.” He pats the spot beside him on the couch and Grace scoots closer, leans in for a one armed hug and she knows that her dad mustn't be too mad. 

_“So, Danny what do you plan to do now?”_

“Well, I’m gonna keep geting up every morning. Take my daughter to school. Go to work and not think about it. And then maybe one day I won’t have to think about not thinking about her. How great it was. How perfect we had it.”

_“Tell me, Danny. How did you meet your wife?”_

“How did we meet?” Danny chuckles. “She ran into me.”

_“In the store?”_

“In her car.”

_“Oh.”_

“Yeah. She was new to America and, well let’s just say that a British accent and a nice tushi…” Danny hesitates, “Can I say tushi on the radio?”

_“You can.”_

“Oh, ok. Well good. Let’s just say that driving lessons turned into coffee turned into being married and living in a two bedroom apartment in Weehawken.”

_“You fell in love quickly?”_

“Made Flo-Jo look like a tortoise.”

_“So tell me what happened then.”_

“Well, Grace was born. You know her, she likes to use the telephone,” Danny strokes stray hair from his daughter’s face and shifts in his seat.

_“She sounds very special.”_

“She is,” Danny nods. “She’s funny and smart and… she’s everything. When her mom died, Grace and me, we couldn’t go anywhere in our neighbourhood without seeing someone we knew and we’d get these looks from people.”

_“Looks?”_

Danny sighs. “Yeah, looks. You know the ones where people want to say something but then don’t and it’s like their tongue is constipated. We’d be having a good day and then, bam, a look from someone’s cousin’s sister’s best friend and we’d be back in the house, sitting on the couch eating Chunky Monkey from the tub.”

_“So what did you do?”_

“We moved.”

_“House?”_

“Planets. This place. This… this pineapple infested hellhole with all the sun and insane food and, and believe me I never though this was possible, traffic that makes rush hour on the turnpike look like Sunday afternoon.”

_“You don’t like the beach?”_

“I like cities. Skyscrapers. But Grace, man, she loves it here. She’s made friends and she's pretty much grown gills we're in the water so much. And most importantly, there isn’t a reminder of her mother around every lei stand so…”

_“And what about you, Danny? What does Hawaii have for you?”_

“Uh…” Danny frowns. “Well the coffee’s pretty good.”

_“Danny.”_

“We had a pretty rough time of it there, for a while, and.. y’know. We’re getting through. So…”

_“Do you think you could ever love someone again? As much as you loved your wife?”_

“It’s hard to imagine that happening,” Danny admits.

_“But would you be willing to try? For Grace’s sake as well as your own.”_

Danny sighs. "It doesn’t feel like nearly long enough, y’know? There are days when I forget she’s gone. I turn to tell her something that a crazy perp did at work but of course, she isn’t there.”

_”I understand.”_

“It’s just been me and Grace for a while now and… I guess I just never thought of getting back ‘out there’.”

_“Well you’ll take it at your own pace, I can see you’re already doing that. And, Danny, I’m gad you talked to me tonight. I hope that it’s opened a window for Grace to talk with you more about how she’s feeling, and that she just wants you to be okay too.”_

“Yeah, it’s okay.” Danny chuckles. “She’s not grounded at any rate.”

_“Glad to hear it. Well, I’m afraid that’s all we have time for tonight. I want to wish all my listeners, especially Awake on Oahu, a safe and happy Christmas and we’ll return at our usual time, next week.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day one prompt: time


	2. I bet he's tall with a cute butt...

_Just got to. Breathe. Got to keep my head above the… Steve chokes and splutters as another wave hits him hard, sending water down his throat, the salt stinging his eyes. Just have to hold on, he tells himself. His mantra for the lat few hours has not changed. They know where he is, his team will come for him Just have to hold on until they get here._

_Another wave, a particularly large one, lifts him upwards before dumping him and the floatation device which is all that is between him and certain drowning, into the emptiness behind it, tossing him around like a toy boat in an overfilled bath tub. Just have to…_

“McGarrett, man wake up,” a voice shouts through the crash of the water. 

Steve mumbles, his lips dry and sore. “Mmm, I’m. What?”

“Here,” the voice, not so loud this time, is accompanied by something poking at Steve’s lips. He realises it is a straw and gratefully sucks cool liquid into his mouth. 

“Better?”

Steve nods but immediately regrets it, what with the stabbing pain it shoots up his neck and into his temples. “Where’m I?” He forces his eyes open and the voice slowly takes a blurry form. “F’ddie?”

“Yeah,” his friend smiles, relief evident on his face. “Yeah it’s me. You had us worried for a while there, Steve.” 

“Sorry.” Although for what, exactly, Steve is not quite sure. 

“Nah man,” Freddie shakes his head. “We’re the ones who are sorry. Took us too long to find you.”

“Storm,” Steve frowns, remembering the waves. So big. “Not your fault.”

“Yeah, well,” Freddie sighs. “You’ve been out for two days.”

Steve reaches up to his skull, feeling around for bandages. 

“No,” Freddie shakes his head. “You swallowed a lot of water. No idea how you didn’t drown, man. But the docs were worried about you dry drowning with everything in your lungs so they brought you here.”

“Which is?” 

“We’re in Landstuhl.”

“Oh,” Steve’s face falls. “So, I’m…”

“Not kicking the bucket yet,” Freddie laughs, perching on the edge of Steve’s hospital bed. “It’s just the best place for you, they thought you’d develop pneumonia. And Brooker took that round to the thigh before we made it back to the boats so they just sent the whole unit here. He’s down the hall and the rest of the guys are having some R&R.”

“Okay, good.”

“’Spose I should get the doctor, tell someone you’re awake at least.” He stands and moves to the door. “Don’t be scaring us like that again, you hear?” he says seriously. 

“Thought I was the one that got to give the orders,” Steve grins at his best friend. 

“You just keep telling yourself that, Smooth Dog,” Freddie winks as he turns and walks out the door. 

* * * 

Hours later, after being poked and prodded by what Steve is sure is the entire staff of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre, he is declared on the mend and has only a nasal cannula and monitoring equipment attached to his person. He is very glad to be rid of the I.V. and catheter, although not so fond of the actual removal process, especially of the latter. 

“Commander McGarrett?” A cursory knock on the door is followed by a petty officer entering his room. 

“Yes?” 

“I have a tablet for you, if you want it.” The sailor salutes then holds up an iPad in a beat up case with his other hand, as well as a pair of foam covered earbuds like the type you get on a plane. “It’s got a couple of apps and the hospital has wi-fi so you can email home if you want.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need it.” Steve tries his best to dismiss with a polite smile. “Let someone else use it.”

“They’re provided by the USO and we have plenty. It’s quiet here at the moment. Which is good,” he hastens to add. He comes closer and taps at the screen as he walks. “Here,” he hands the iPad to Steve. “A guy a couple of weeks ago put this app on, it picks up satellite radio. Even gets some of the national stations from back home.”

“Really?” Steve’s brow quirks in interest. 

“Yes sir,” the petty officer grins. “I’m not sure it’s entirely legit but I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“Well then,” Steve plugs in the offered earbuds. “Who am I to turn down free entertainment of questionable legality?” 

“Have a good day, Sir.” He salutes again, Steve returning it the best he can with the leads coming off of him, and leaves. 

Steve flicks around in the app for a minute or two, quickly dismissing country and western channels and something claiming to be ‘the home of love’. He doesn’t even want to know what kind of music that entails! He settles on a talk back station from Chicago. He calculates the time difference in his head and decides that if nothing else, the monotone drone of late night call in radio should soothe him to sleep. 

_“Our next caller lives in Honolulu. Go ahead, Grace. You’re on the air with Dr. Caroline Bradman.”_

What are the chances of that? That the caller on the random station he lands on would be from his own hometown. It suddenly feels so far, worlds, away. 

_“Hi.”_

_“Hello, Grace. You sound a lot younger than our usual callers. How old are you?”_

_“I’m almost nine.”_

_“And, Grace, what are you doing up so late on Christmas Eve?”_

_“It’s not that late in Hawaii,”_

Steve chuckles. The kid sounds smart. He lets his mind wander, imagining what it would be like to be there right now. It would be late in the day, the sun almost setting. There’d be a row of surfers bobbing off Waikiki beach, desperate to catch the last good waves before it gets too dark. Then there’d be the crazy ones who just crack some glow sticks and keep at it until the night breeze picks up and it gets too cold. 

_“I think he needs a new wife,” the girl says._

Well, isn’t that just the most contrived thing he’s ever heard, Steve thinks to himself. There is no way this isn’t a massive setup. His finger hovers over the channel tuning icon, yet, he can’t bring himself to change it. The girl, Grace, describes her dad being out the back by the water and he feels a pang for his own house. The one he hasn’t set foot in for almost twenty years. And when the girl’s father comes on the line, well. That’s just something else entirely. 

_“Can I say tushi on the radio?”_ he asks and Steve laughs to himself. This guy sounds like… Ok he sounds kinda like an argumentative pain in the ass but he also sounds like he’s been through hell and is doing everything he can to claw himself and his daughter out of it. There's just... something. Steve no longer thinks this is made up. He listens until the end of the programme and when the show cuts out, lets the static wash over him as he falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 2 prompt: Water


	3. If you’re having trouble sleeping, you might want to try drinking a glass of water from the other side...

Danny is just getting home from work, later than he’d like thanks to a lead that went nowhere but the far side of the island. It’s still well before sunset though and he’s glad that his partner is supportive of him leaving at a decent hour. Although he has no children of his own, Chin Ho Kelly is also a widower and understands more than most how important it is to Danny that he get home for his daughter. He seems to get that it is less about the practicality of being a single father. There was a time when Grace would catch the school bus and hang out at his parent’s house after school. He wasn’t sure who got up to more mischief, his daughter or his newly retired, firefighter father. These days, being on time was more about ensuring he doesn’t add to Grace’s feelings of loss, abandonment and isolation. The same feelings that led to the big move to Hawaii in the first place. 

“Just put it over there with the others, I guess. I hope it doesn’t rain!” he hears Grace say as he locks the car. Wondering who she is talking to, it’s then that Danny notices the mail van parked by the kerb and a man is hefting a large canvas bag onto a pile of similar ones. 

“Uh, hi?” Danny asks. It’s not the usual mail uniform and he’s instantly suspicious. And a little cross that Grace not only opened the door but came out. 

“Good afternoon, Sir,” the carrier smiles at him, unaware of the detective’s prickly disposition. “Your daughter got here just in time, let me tell you. I have no idea what you did, buddy but you sure do got some fan mail!”

“Fan mail?” Danny frowns. 

Grace is barely containing herself from hopping on the spot. “They’re all from people who heard your radio show, Daddy! They all want to be your wife!”

“Oh,” Danny can feel his face reddening. “That’s just…”

“So your’e that guy,” the mail carrier nods. “My misus and her friends have been talking about it ever since Christmas Eve. You’re Awake on Oahu!”

“Uh, I guess?” Danny shrugs. “Look, you can just take all these back, okay?”

“But Danno…” Grace whines but stops when she sees her father’s stern look. 

“Sorry, but no can do,” the mail carrier shrugs. “They’re addressed to you, I deliver them to you. What you do with them now is up to you. You can keep the bags.”

“But, I…” Danny watches him go, helpless to the mountain of mail that he knows will soon be spread from one end of his house to the other. Unless… “Grace, go drag the recycle bin over and we can just…”

“No,” she pouts, stomping her foot. “I want to read them.”

Danny crouches, letting her grumpy attitude slide in the face of the fact that she sees this as the great white hope for their family. “Grace, Monkey,” he sighs. “These letters are from crazy people. Lonely, sad people who had nothing better to do on Christmas Eve than listen to the radio and nothing better to do on Christmas Day than sit around writing a letter to a complete stranger.”

“Soooo,” she ponders, “Basically, they’re from people just like us?”

And isn’t that a punch in the gut. Danny flinches. “Oh, honey, is that how you really feel?”

Grace shrugs. 

“Grace,” he prompts, poking her in the shoulder, the spot that never fails to get her giggling. Except that this time, it doesn’t work. 

“I don’t know,” she sighs. “Maybe?”

“You really want to look at some?”

Grace nods. “Yeah. Just coz someone’s lonely, doesn’t mean they aren’t a nice person,” she looks at the bag on top of the pile and points. “That one first.”

“Fine,” Danny relents. “Homework first though! And if there’s anything in there that you wouldn’t be comfortable reading aloud in front of your grandmother… Wait what am I saying, your grandmother is a terrible influence! If there’s anything you wouldn’t read aloud for me, you skip right over it. In fact, put that letter straight in the ‘crazy’ pile without finishing it, okay?”

Grace nods solemnly. “I promise.” She pulls the key out from her pocket, stretching the ribbon from where it is safety pinned to the lining of her skirt and unlocking the front door, and skips inside. 

Danny sighs, eyeing the massive pile of mail and knowing that somehow, he’s just been tricked into helping his daughter read every last one of these letters. He decides not to even think about how many trees gave their lives for this crazy scheme. Awake on Oahu indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day three prompt - tree


	4. Ok, so it actually is easier for us to get killed by a terrorist than to get married over the age of forty…

“Great, and now the next line.”

“O K H D N R C S,” Steve parrots, holding his hand over his left eye. 

“Skip a line, with the right.”

“B D C L K…”

“Okay that’s good,” the doctor switches off the light behind the eye chart and crosses the small examination room to turn the overhead fluro back on. “I’m happy to sign you off as fully fit and duty ready, Commander.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Steve nods. New Years passed completely without event and he’s itching to get back to his team. The week he was laid up whilst his doctors fussed over his lungs has seemed like an eternity. 

“I’ll forward the papers to your C.O. today.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Steve says again, standing this time.

“Dismissed.”

With the necessary salutes, Steve leaves the pokey office and heads back to his room to collect his few personal belongings.

* * *  
Another few days pass and Steve makes it back to his team, minus Brooker who still has another month or so until he is back to a hundred percent. Ironically, considering how unsettled he had felt in the hospital and how keen he was to get back to his men, Steve’s team now finds themselves on standby. They’re stuck waiting for the guys over in Naval Intelligence to go over the information they had gathered before things went FUBAR with their last mission. So it's just him and Hart, hanging in the Rec room on base, half heartedly playing a game of Texas Hold ‘em. 

“What’s with you, McGarrett?” Freddie asks his friend and superior. “You’re jumpier than a bullfrog on an ant’s nest.”

Steve frowns. “Why would a frog be stupid enough to be on an ant’s nest in the first place?” he challenges. “What the hell kind of wildlife do you have over there on the mainland?”

Freddie laughs. “Ok, fair point. Smooth Dog wins again.”

“Hey, what’d I tell you guys about that?”

“That it’s the perfect nickname for Mr Smooth Talking, Panty Dropping…” He stops at Steve’s glare and holds up his hands in defense. “Okay, so I know the only panties you’re going anywhere near these days belong to just the one woman but still, dozens of ‘em keep trying!”

“Really,” Steve rolls his eyes. 

“And dozens and dozens and…” 

Steve totally does not throw a poker chip at his Lieutenant’s head. 

“But seriously, you okay?” Freddied asks again, more seriously this time. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were…”

“Say I was what?” Steve says, somewhat threateningly.

“Well, mopey.”

“What?”

“You know. Mopey. Mooching about, disinterested.”

“I know what it means,” Steve throws his cards down on the table in front of him although even with a 3 and a 6 off suit, he’d rather play than have this conversation. “I’m not though.”

“Uh huh. Sure.” Freddie says sarcastically. “Look, you’ve had close calls before, Steve…”

“It’s not that,” Steve cuts him off. God forbid the next words out of his friends’ mouth contain ‘speak to’ and ‘professional’. “I’ve just been thinking about home a little, that’s all.”

“You wanna put in for some time?”

“No,” Steve sighs. “I don’t know what it is, okay. It’s just…” How can he explain this to the man who is his best friend, without sounding like a total lunatic. “They gave me an iPad to use and there was this radio app.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard about those. They’re meant to be good.”

“Fred, you wouldn’t know the headphone jack from your asshole,” Steve rolls his eyes. 

“Would too!” Freddie protests, rocking his chair to balance on the back two legs. 

“Two words, my friend,” Steve grins. “Cambodia. Earwig.”

“Those were extenuating circumstances! And… Hey stop trying to change the subject.” 

“Okay, fine.” Steve knows he will have to give his friend something, he’s not going to back off. “So there was this program. A call in thing, late at night. Only this kid calls in from Hawaii and tells the shrink on the radio that she needs a new wife for her dad ‘coz he’s sad.”

“Oh, yeah! Kelly mentioned something about that in her last email. Some widower, they’re calling him Awake on Oahu, moved with his daughter from New Jersey to Hawaii after his wife died. Women were calling in from all over the country, offering to marry him!”

“Right,” Steve nods. So far so good. No laughing at him anyway. “Well it’s just that I had a lot of time to think, y’know when you guys left me stranded in the hospital for a week, and it’s just…” he trails off.

“Makes you think about your dad?”

Steve nods. 

“And you’re sure that that’s all this is?” 

“Yeah. What else would it be?”

“Steve,” Freddie fixes him with a stern look. “It’s me, buddy. I never asked, you never told but… You know that isn’t even a thing now and we aren't getting any younger so if that's the direction that you, I mean if you wanted to…”

“You’re insane, you know that?” Steve stops him.

“I’m not the one depressed over a radio interview,” Freddie reminds him. “But if you say so, I believe you. If it’s not that, what then?”

“It’s just… This guy, Danny his name is although his daughter called him Danno a couple of times, I’d love to know the story behind that…”

“Steve.”

“Right. This guy moves heaven and earth to make a fresh start for his daughter and when my mum dies? Military school. Literally.”

“It was a different time, man,” Freddie shrugs. “And your dad, he’s a pretty hard nosed guy from what you’ve told me. Chases the worst scum on the island.”

“Well, this guy’s a cop too and doesn’t use that as an excuse to…”

“To what, Steve?”

“Nothing.” Steve pushes his chair back and stands. “I don’t want to talk about this any more, okay?”

“Sure,” Freddie says carefully, knows that he’s stumbled onto something raw here. “But if you change your mind…”

“Uh huh,” Steve nods. “See you at chow, okay?” He’ll never tell anyone, least of all Freddie, that he listened to a stream of that phone call seven times over whilst he was laid up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day four prompt - eyes
> 
> Yes, I know. I am so woefully behind. Yay for Bachelor's degrees. Not.

**Author's Note:**

> ***
> 
> So all those months ago when the idea of a Sleepless in Seattle fusion buried itself into my brain and refused to come out... Let's do this thing!


End file.
